Marti Burt
Marti grew up in Pasadena, California and graduated from Antioch College (B.A.) and the University of Wisconsin (M.S., Ph.D.). She rarely uses these credentials except when writing to legislators. Marti retired as the Director of the Social Services Research Center at the Urban Institute in 2009, after serving in that position for almost 30 years. In 2013, after living in the Washington, D.C. area since 1978, she moved to Santa Fe with her wife, Betty-Carol Sellen. She and Betty-Carol were together since 1989, and legally married since 2008; she was recently widowed when Betty-Carol died of dementia. Marti’s career as a policy analyst and author working to improve services and service-delivery structures for vulnerable populations began at the Minnesota state legislature and continued through her 35 years at Urban. In that timespan she directed studies that addressed policy and service issues for pregnant and parenting teens and other high-risk youth, women victims of violence, people living with mental illness, and people experiencing homelessness, wrote books and reports, advised several federal agencies regarding strategies to improve services, and testified before Congress. Since coming to Santa Fe, she has worked on three mayoral campaigns and the Coordinated Campaigns of 2018, 2020, and 2022, done fundraisers for various political candidates, held several positions within the county Democratic Party, organized her 3-block street so neighbors know and socialize with each other (she got tired of not knowing her neighbors), and initiated a now-7-years-old monthly gourmet group. She also works with BlueCD2, an organization dedicated to turning NM’s 2nd Congressional District Blue and keeping it that way. She serves as BlueCD2’s treasurer and organizer for its statewide postcarding activities. She greatly enjoys the company of friends at many pool parties and other gatherings throughout the year, including blow-out potlucks at all the major summer holidays. She joined Indivisible SOS Santa Fe in October 2021.
